Softball: Squeakers follow blowout

It was the little flashes of strength that raised the spirits of theWeston High softball team.

Devon Brostoff’s right field bomb lit up the Trojans in a dark hour — their 22-0 loss to Masuk on Wednesday, April 25. With the Trojans down 19-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Brostoff’s double energized the bench. The surge persisted even through the shutout.

Weston managed only two hits against Masuk.

“The opening triple, home run from Masuk really deflated the team’s hopes,” said Weston coach Dave Lustberg. “We know how tough Masuk is as a team.”

Masuk scored ten runs in the opening inning.

However, Lustberg did not fault Weston’s performance.

“The girls know they didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “Masuk just got a lot of hits in.”

Weston came off a narrow 9-8 loss against Stratford a day earlier. A real bait-and-switch bout, the Trojans looked like the clear victors until the sixth inning, when Stratford brought home six runs in a head-scratching flurry of surprise runs.

Before the seventh, Weston led 8-3. Its offense spiked thanks to a pair of runs by Shelby Merberg and Kate Goldberg in the sixth. Defensively, Lianna Hursh accumulated 15 putouts at first base.

Including a surprise home base steal, pinch runner Julia Rogers scored two runs against Stratford. Kat Fischer struck out six hitters and gave up only three earned runs. Lianna Hursh knocked out a triple.

Playing three games in a row last week, Weston’s third on Apr. 26 was another heartbreaker, though it was not nearly as extreme as the Stratford loss. Losing 6-5 to Newtown, Weston fell victim to a final inning rally.

Had they not committed several critical errors nor given up three walks in the bottom of the seventh, the Trojans would have walked away the victors.

Regardless of the loss, Weston’s performance was consistently strong until the ending fluke.

The Trojans’ record stands at 2-8. They visit Kolbe-Cathedral on Wednesday at 4:14 at Seaside Park in Bridgeport.